Hui Rong Liu Portfolio 2016

Hui Rong Liu Portfolio

Content

1_Wall as A Verb New York City public high school design

2_Bilingual Structure: Transformation of the Cross Bronx Expressway Architectural Urbanism: Thansformation for Cross Bronx Expressway

3_Analysis as Design: Architecture and Infinity Alvar Aalto Baker House Architectural Analysis

4_The Last Person Who Draws: An Architectural Fairytale Fairytale 2016: Architectural Storytelling Competition Collaboration with Vita Wang

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1_Wall as A Verb “Realism does not have to be reduced to naivety or to pragmatic problem solving. It can be considered as an aesthetic agenda that reveals reality in ways that are typically obscured by habitual experience. What realism can do is de-familiarize the ordinary, providing alternative possibilities for experience. “ Realism in Architecture Studio statement, Michael Young This project explores the possibility of wall being the primary element in the creation of space: a wall that provides light, structural support, as well as defining space and programs. The proposal aims to challenge the practice of specialized architectural elements in modern built environment; in which each element is assigned with a specific function, and individually it does not hold the qualities of an architecture. By erasing the specificity of architectural elements, the boundary between buildings and object blurs; raising the question of what is the essence of an architectural structure, beside its adaptation of human scale and activities.

The program for this project is a public high school for 300 students. Situated in lower Manhattan, the site is bond by three streets and located at the threshold of the Brooklyn Bridge. The proposal is to occupy the entire site with four 8 feet wide, 100 feet high walls. The four walls deform according to the programmatic needs and spatial fluidity. Thus program that takes up more space are pushed to the two ends of the building. Two types of spaces are created under the layering organization: the space in between the walls, and the space in the walls. The space in the wall nest serving spaces and mechanical equipments, which allows the space in between the wall to have bigger scale events and more dynamic uses.

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[sectional structural model]

[material exploration]

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6’ [Wall Detail]

[In between walls / In the walls] The site is occupied by four 8 feet wide, 100 feet tall walls. The four walls are pushed and pulled accordance with the programmatic occupation. Thus program that needs more space, like library, cafeteria and gym, are pushed to the end of the site; which allows more sunlight into the space. In the organization of the building, In-the-wall spaces are the serving space for in-between-wall spaces. They support in-between-wall spaces structurally and programmatically.

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[rendering] spatial sequence of entering the building

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[interior elevation] a vertial contour on the wall

2_Bilingual Structure: Transformation of the Cross Bronx Expressway “Ten minutes on this road, an ordeal for anyone, is especially dreadful for people who remember the Bronx as it used to be: who remember these neighborhoods as they once lived and thrived, until this road itself cut through their heart and made the Bronx, above all, a place to get out of. For children of the Bronx like myself, this road bears a load of special irony: as we race through our childhood world, rushing to get out, relieved to see the end in sight, we are not merelspectators but active participants in the process of destruction that tears our hearts. We fight back the tears, and step on the gas. ” ---- All The is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity, Marshall Berman We measure distance by the time we spend traveling to another point. 30 mins walk is too far for coffee, 20 minutes drive is a bearable commute distance. I see the distance traveled is the origin of all urban forms, especially those structures that are meant for you to bypass them. Can city elements in different scale talk to each other? can a building express itself to a moving car? can highways response to pedestrians? or can a neighborhood of ten blocks leaves a spatial impression to a bypassing train?

As we wander through a collage of distinct urban elements that all speaks their own language, I wonder if there is a possibility for an urban/ architectural piece to proforem bilingually. A spatial structure that speaks to mutiple scales at once, and has the ability to translate one scale to anothor. This project explores a new urban element that has the potential of forming a new grid/block system. Solving the problem of the destructive collision between infrastructure and the neighborhood; essentially, between the space devoted to cars and the space belongs to the locals.

This new element : 1. Provides a missing scale that translate the highway dimension to the residents’ scale.

2. Allows member of the neighborhood to build beyound the destruction of the bypass vehicle structure, reoccupy the void in the center of Bronx.

[proposal sketch] above: crossing the expressway with a series of elements/ below: light pattern created by a series of bridges on the expressway

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[scale comparison] scale comparison between elements in the city: house, block, street, ‘the new element’, expressway

[collage plan] occupying the expressway

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[repetitive structural section and programmatic plug-ins] The project proposes an repetitive truss section that allows add on structures. In the hope of accommodating local programmatic need, while establishing an larger scale gesture that transform the spatial condition across the expressway: create a new zone that cross over the division caused by the Cross Bronx Expressway.

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unfolded running track residential unit staircase landscape element basketball field plantation basin waterway street light basketball basket

[movement diagram] black-general flow /red-public program/ green-crossings

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[close-up plan] this plan reveals the architectural scale reaction to an urban scale scheme

“Design is concerned with conscious distortion of time, distance and size. If it achieves none of these distortions it is unlikely to be more than the elaboration of the status quo.

The apparent but unreal inevitability of he design of the safety pin is my destination of ‘good’ design. It is the recognition, in time, of the usefulness and delight of the object (or system) that really establishes a consensus on the quality of the design. It does not matter who design the safety pin- we should just be delighted that they did. The value of performance must be proven, not merely assumed....Shortage of time is likely to become an increasingly large element in the conscious design process: not merely achieving a particular means but even in deciding whether there is a time to bother designing such a means.”------ Re:CP, Cedric Price

Proposal: 1_Bending urban void A street turn into a block, a block turn into a street. Building turn into city, city turn into architecture.

2_duplicate the formal logic of the highway Inserting an spatial axis that is as strong as Cross Bronx Expressway, to weaken strong directionality of the groove in the ground, each lanes in the bend has a distinctive scale.

3_Dispersion/delaminate of the stripe to enrich driver’s experience in the 5 mins drive, the layers of city unfold itself in a scale that can be read to the driver. create a light rhythm/ pattern through the driving experience.

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[collage of speed] a experimental collage of the exoerience of a 60 seconds car drive and 60 minutes walk. experimenting the dilemma of urban infrastructural design.

3_Analysis as Design: Architecture and Infinity The Baker House is the first dormitory in Massachusetts Institute of Technology west campus. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto drew out the building plan in 1946, while he was a professor at the university. In this project, Aalto manages to maintain individuality and privacy in a co-living situation; where three hundred residents share a majority of the living space together. As the same time maximum occupancy in one single building is desired.

To achieve both density and diversity in a narrow rectangular site, Aalto first deforms and cramps thirty-five rooms (per floor)into different sizes, shapes and notation, and positions them onto the building’s south facade. The riverside has became a constant that the building undulates along.Secondly, the architect set up a series of spatial layers parallel to the riverside within the building. Each layer are coded with a distinct spatially program, which are the elements that form a house or a single residential unit. In an order from the south to the north side, these layers are: brick window/view frame, rooms, corridor/ movement space, communal supportive space, and another corridor/ movement space. Eventually, a path through these program layers—leads individuals to a distinct perspectival view of the Charles River— enables each students to create their own spatial route. Through these spatial strategies, the Baker House has became a conjunction of three hundred houses that host unique living scenarios.

[plan and elevation]documentation drawings of the Baker House

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[Eyes of the Baker House] (left) In order to maximize riverside facing rooms, Aalto cramped 35 rooms into different sizes, shapes, and notations on to its south facade; with at least one window to a room. This drawing is a study of the relationship between the Baker House curve and the riverside, in the case riverside is seen as a constant that the building moves along. Windows are projecting on to the river, forming a cone of vision dome which illustrates the visual range of the facade---the eyes of the Baker House.

[Analyical drawing of the structural system] (right)

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[Space Occupancy Analysis] This is a chart of all the space in the building being redistributed based on their uses and qualities. The vertical axis is a timeline, marking out when spaces are most occuppyied during the course of a day. The herizontal axis measures the qualities of programs, from private spaces for individuals to communal spaces for all, from single rooms to the dinning hall. Most of the space in the building is distributed to single rooms, and the communal space is relatively a very small portion: the dinning hall is only the size of six single rooms. From reading the chart, I also found that Baker House is a very fragmented building, Aalto has done a lot of seperation in order to achieve individuality within the dormitory.

4_The Last Person Who Draws Five drawings and text Collaboration with Vita Wang

She wakes up in her truck, to an ear-piercing beeping sound from her dashboard. “God damn it!” she swears. It is the third day on her trip, the long-lousy journey of searching for another person who also draws.

The old artist does not remember, when has she become so lonely. Nor does she remember, when has she become the last person who draws. Anxiety has gradually vacated her heart; the feeling of desolation has overwhelmed her. She cannot be alone anymore. The old woman packed all her works onto her truck and decided to drive away from the fear, being the last one who draws.

Glowing under the dim morning haze, the paintings scatter, like a weird gallery show on the damp, peeling asphalt road, when she steps out the car door to check the sidelight. What comes first into sight is the movie poster she painted years ago. The commissioner never showed up after he paid off the first deposit for this poster. The poster was for one of those sci-fi movies in the 80s, telling the same old story of adventures into the unknown.

She drives along the road to TAIKOON, a distanced city where in her blur memory lived the old friend of hers, who also will be drawing, if he is still alive. The wind hisses through the gap between the window and its frame. With her urgent desire to escape the rooting insecurity, the truck blasts through the bare mountain valley and the rolling tumbleweeds, toward TAIKOON with hope. As the old woman steps on the gas, she glances at the monstrous, oversized billboard that leaps into her sight. “Once in a lifetime opportunity, luxurious skydiving experience.” The picture however appears not so much an exciting sky trip, but a poor man falling endlessly into the void.

TAIKOON starts emerging after driving past the billboard. It has been almost 10 years after her last visit. She got lost in this jungle of buildings. Sigh the old woman with frustration. The truck slides and parks against the bustling road, the old rusty vehicle appears as a strange object in the splendid cityscape.

Whenever she mentions the purpose of her trip, people react to her with a bizarre silence or even a blank face: they simply have no idea what is the act of drawing, and who is the men she mentioned that does it for living! Dreadful, the old woman rests against one of the masonry buildings, reaches into her pocket for a cigarette. She looks around into the flickering, bewildering world, tries to reconnect the unfamiliar reality to her vague memory. The high-rise building under construction across the street catches her eyes; yet what surprises her is the architectural rendering on the work site fences, portraying glorious buildings illuminating under the azure sky. Spending most of her life without the knowledge of computation, the old artist questions why the owner of this unfinished building uses photos of other buildings for advertisement? The glorious building rendering looks almost too real for the reality. The dustless glass facade draws perfect sharp lines in the air, it becomes the perfect reflection of the sky.

He is no longer here.

She lingers into a nearby coffee shop, sits down for a drink, and ponders deeply of the next stage for this seemingly endless trip. The coffee house is packed, the voice of the anchorman on the television stands out from the mix of conversations in the air and the clinking noises of utensils. “.....The Challenger Road has been closed indefinitely near Southwest 128th Avenue after a 20-foot-deep sinkhole opened just outside of Rockwell city limits.

According to Sally K. Ride, a spokeswoman with the County Department, the sinkhole is about 1.7 miles west of TAIKOON” “Sir I am afraid you’re not supposed to be here, the customers....”

“Just for a second, kid, I won’t stay long.”

An old man, unshaved, matted hair, stumbles from the entrance toward the old artist. Neither his present nor his smell is welcomed in the room.

“I think I know where is the thing ya’re looking for.” He mumbles with slight uncertainty.

“What do you mean?” His voice is not as crazy as his look, the old woman think to herself.

“The thing, the thing that ya call dwe...dra...drawing? I’ve seen someone did that before, as crazy as I am, no one have any idea what he is doing...! I overheard ya are looking for the crazy one“ the man squints his eyes and licks his teeth, hesitated, “heard him gone to Apollo-32, but it was months ago when I met him.”

“Apollo-32 for how long? You sure he is there?” “...and if a kind lady like you would spare any change..?”

The artist left the cafe.

Apollo-32 is a town 50 miles west of TAIKOON, it is one of the fast-emerging cities in the area. However, rumor has it that phantoms wander every street corner once sunset; to look for those who cannot find their way home.

She gets back on road. Not through the Challenger Road though, she thought, fretfully. The windshield of her old rusty truck, frames the scenery of the expanding barren land, thick gloomy sky and a fine silver line in-between. She feels dizzy, the same anxiety shrouds her and leaves her in solitude.

Her vision blurred.

The last person who draws drives into the vanishing point.

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